Living The Way

Once I invited some of my students to my house. It was part of a course that I personally conducted in my company.

The objective was to show them how I lived, worked, played and learned in my house.

Prayerfully, it would help them avoid my mistakes and improve on my strengths.

It was one of the scariest things to do in my life.

Sometimes, I feared they would use my openness and private information against me at a later stage.

So, why did I do it?

I did it as a way of showing my gratitude to the people who have so generously shared their personal life with me.

Their act of friendship and authenticity have enriched my life and helped me to be a better person.

They have paid it forward and I was hoping to do the same.

I hoped that others could learn from my successes as well as from my failures.

There was another reason for me to open up my home.

I read somewhere that pride can come about when people are uncomfortable under their skin.

Their unhealthy self esteem can drive them to seek unnecessary attention and acceptance.

It can also drive them to believe their views are always right and they are better than the people around them.

When I invited my students to my home, I hoped that by being transparent, I would strengthen self acceptance and be at peace with myself.

In recognising my weaknesses, I would learn to be humble and be more motivated to improve myself.

You can imagine I received my students that day with a degree of trepidation.

At one point in the training, I wanted to show them my kitchen, refrigerator and cupboards.

I took pride in my endeavor to live healthily and wanted to inspire them to do the same.
Usually, I would not prepare for this part of the lesson. I aimed to be real and transparent about my lifestyle.

To my surprise, I found many chocolates, candies, cookies, and ice cream in my kitchen.
I had forgotten that in recent times I had received many of them as presents.

My students might not have realized the feelings that was going through me.

Fortunately, I had a divine inspiration to turn it into a learning lesson for myself as well as for them.

I told them, “Do I eat them? Of course.

“Am I constantly tempted by them? Most definitely.”

“How did I overcome these issues?

I went on to share how I’ve set up systems to ring fence myself. How I would ensure that I would stay on the straight and narrow in living a healthy life.

While reflecting on that training, I relearned a powerful lesson for effective leadership.

You will influence your people more effectively through your life than through what comes out of your mouth.

Whether you like it or not, you will lead by example.

Your people will follow what you do more than what you tell them to do.

How you live your life will eventually become the main curriculum and method for training and influencing your people.

By your deeds, you will mould and shape your people and the direction of your team.

They are more impactful than all the beautiful messages that you can craft and communicate to them.

If you cannot lead yourself, you cannot lead others.

The quality of your personal results will determine the quality of your team’s results.

Live the way.

Be the kind of a leader that both your people and yourself will want to look up to, emulate and follow.

To rephrase the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “Be the leader that you ought to be in both the internal and external worlds.”
People will never follow a leader if they don’t like, trust and respect him.

In short, aim to be the living lesson for your team. Do what you tell them to do and aim to do it in a better way.

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About Patrick LiewAbout Patrick Liew
Patrick Liew MBA, MSc, BSc is the Managing Partner of Global Enterprise Exchange Pte. Ltd.. He is also the founder and director of Success Resources, arguably the world’s largest personal development seminar organiser and a major shareholder of a company, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. He was previously the Executive Chairman and CEO of HSR Global Ltd., a publicly listed company on SGX-ST.
Previously, he was the regional director of the Gartner Group, providing strategic advisory and planning services to governments, banks and MNCs. He was also the regional head of sales and marketing operation for Dow Jones Telerate.
Patrick graduated with a BSc in Estate Management from Heriot Watt University, an MSc with emphasis in global business and marketing from The City University Of New York, and an MBA from Henley Business School / Brunel University. He has also earned more than nine other professional qualifications.
Patrick is arguably the first person to develop a multimedia e-learning programme on entrepreneurship. He authored a Chinese book on business systems and was also the co-author of a Times Bookshop best-selling book.
Patrick has conducted both ‘brick and mortar’ and online lessons for participants from more than 60 countries. He has also conducted keynote presentations in many international conferences, including being the first Singaporean to teach at the National Association of Realtors. Through his team at Success Resources, Patrick has organised educational conferences for prominent leaders such as President Bill Clinton, Prime Minister Tony Blair, Michael Porter, Richard Branson, Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, and many other prominent leaders.
Patrick provides leadership and advisory services to many professional and charity organisations. He is actively involved in supporting humanitarian, philanthropic and charity causes. He has organised three fund-raising events and in the process, help to set three national records in the Singapore Books Of Records.
Patrick won the Entrepreneur Of the Year Award For Social Contribution, the Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Award, and six other business awards.
Patrick believes the best way to live your life is to live your life for others. The more you reach out to bless other lives, the richer and better your life will become.
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A Personal Note to my Friends
The articles that I post online; or what I term as Love Notes, are written with the purpose of inspiring readers to live at a higher plane in life.
They are also meant to motivate those who are struggling in life and help them find handlers to overcome their conflicts and challenges.
It is my ardent hope that we will form networks and alliances of like-minded people who will put to right many of the wrongs in our midst. Together, we will leverage on each other's resources and create a synergistic impact in making our world a better home.
These articles are written as part of regular reflection about the vicissitudes of life. They are at best work in progress and at worst, grumblings, grouses, and gripings of a finite old man.
I have deliberately decided NOT to delete many of the articles and pointers that I may not agree with or are outrightly wrong.
This is to keep a record of how my personal ideas, beliefs, and values have evolved over time.
In addition, I hope to encourage readers by letting them know that I also make mistakes and am struggling with many of the complexity and complication in life.
As long as we hang on to hope and work on finding a solution, there will be light at the end of whatever tunnel we are in.
I do not pretend to know everything or for that matter, anything of substance.
In fact, the more I study, learn, and think about the vast wisdom and knowledge out there, the more I realised how little I know about life and the ways of life.
Hence, I have always ended my article by asking readers to continue to teach me. For I, too, am a sojourner in the exploration of truth and the adventure of finding meaning, purpose, and significance for my existence.
I am proud of and make no apology for being a Christian, albeit not the most exemplary one. I believe our Creator can lead and guide us to be the best that we can ever be.
I bear full responsibility for the shortcoming and error in my life, including my words. The fault is entirely mine and not due to anyone else.
Readers have and can exercise the power of choice. They can discard what will not work for them and adopt those that can propel them further and faster in the pursuit of better performance, outcomes, and fulfillment.
If I have disappointed or hurt you in any way, form, or manner, I would like to apologise to you. Please do not hold them against me or whoever or whatever is related to me.
There are much to pray about, learn, and do. And I'll work on them with a sense of urgency.
I hold on to the belief that 'Anything worth doing is worth doing with passion and excellence'. I'll endeavour to live by it.
Life is short. There's no dress rehearsal and neither can we turn back the clock to change the drama of life.
Therefore, by the grace and power of our Creator, let's live a full life and live it to the fullest.
May God bless you abundantly on the journey of life.
Your online servant,
Patrick Liew
I hope this message will find a place in your heart.
By the way, I have also recorded other reflections.
Please 'Like' me on https://m.facebook.com/patrickliewsg
Visit my Inspiration blog at https://liewinspiration.wordpress.com/
For my opinions on social affairs, please visit my Transformation blog at http://hsrpatrickliew.wordpress.com/
Please visit my website, http://www.patrickliew.net
Please read my reflection and continue to teach me.
Life is FUNtastic!